Every NRL season is marked by an almost constant hum of speculation over the future of the various head coaches. It is a cut-throat job, where each is judged ultimately on results, with clubs and their fans having little patience for ongoing failure.
This season has seen Penrith take the unprecedented step of firing a coach four weeks out from a certain finals appearance. Anthony Griffin was, by the measures that matter most, a successful coach. The fans were happy, the players were performing, and despite some key injuries they were set to give the finals a real shake. Then Panthers CEO Phil Gould pulled the pin on Griffin's tenure.
The rumours and rumblings that have followed have led to mass confusion right across the NRL. The Panthers aren't the only team affected, with almost every current coach subject to some kind of doubt over their future. In alphabetical order, we take a look at each club and where they currently stand in this coaching mess.
Brisbane Broncos - Wayne Bennett
The talk from Queensland's premier club is that Bennett's time is coming to an end, though chief executive Paul White on Friday morning confirmed the veteran mentor would see out his contract through 2019. Read into that what you will. Bennett reportedly presented a long-term succession plan to the board earlier this year, which was rejected. It was rumoured the Broncos have already signed Souths coach Anthony Seibold to take over from Bennett at the end of the 2019 season, while recent speculation has the club currently in talks with Michael Maguire. Bennett, who has been rumoured to be going to the Panthers, Dragons or Parramatta, attempted to douse the ongoing speculation by insisting there will be no further discussions with the club until October.
Canberra Raiders - Ricky Stuart
Stuart is under pressure after another disappointing season for the Raiders. Since he took over the role in 2014 the Raiders have missed the finals every year, apart from 2016, when they made it to the preliminary final. Injuries, poor refereeing decisions, the blood moon; Stuart has had plenty of excuses up his sleeve, but his poor record surely has him on the coaching clock.
Canterbury-Bankstown Bulldogs - Dean Pay
Pay is in his first year of coaching the club and despite a less than impressive season, he will be given time to overcome the mess he inherited from Des Hasler. The club is still sorting through some massive salary cap issues brought on by Hasler's reliance on back-ended contracts. The Bulldogs are a proud club that expects success, and there is an expectation that things will definitely have to improve next year.
Cronulla Sutherland Sharks - Shane Flanagan
Flanagan took the Sharks to their first premiership just two years ago. He has set up a rugby league academy at the club and has systems in place to ensure their long-term future through junior development. He is contracted until the end of 2019, but interestingly has yet to come to terms for an extension beyond that time. Flanagan is one of the few coaches who holds all the cards and can take his time to ensure he receives the best possible deal.
Gold Coast Titans - Garth Brennan
Brennan stepped into the role after Neil Henry was shown the door towards the end of 2017. The Titans have had mixed results this year, but appear to be improving in many facets of the game. Like Pay, Brennan has a few years to sort things out and prove himself to be the coach for the job.
Manly Warringah Sea Eagles - Trent Barrett
Nearing the end of a disastrous 2018 season, Barrett was reported to have resigned from his job, apparently dissatisfied with the way the club was being run. Barrett and the team have since denied that he is going anywhere, with the former NRL star saying he couldn't elaborate due to legal restrictions. It all points to a coach and his manager battling a club for the most appropriate pay-out and release. It is clear that Barrett is keen to leave and has more than likely lined up his future elsewhere. While fans might suggest he is dishonouring a contract which still has another two years to run, team Barrett will point to what happened to Griffin as proof that when it comes to coaching, you have to look after yourself.
Melbourne Storm - Craig Bellamy
Bellamy's contract was up for renewal this season and there were persistent rumours that he would head to Brisbane to take over the Broncos. It was a classic contract negotiation move, suggesting he was willing to leave and had a big money offer just waiting to be signed. Bellamy surprised no one when inked a three-year extension to continue his highly successful career at the Storm. It will be interesting to see how he keeps the club ticking along next year after Billy Slater departs.
New Zealand Warriors - Stephen Kearney
The Warriors are traditionally a club always on the lookout for a new coach, one who can turn their enormous potential into a premiership trophy for an empty cabinet. Kearney's first season was disappointing considering the club had assembled a team with one of the competition's best spines. The beginning of 2018 was different, with the Warriors having group focus sessions in the middle of the field during stoppages and winning their first five games. Since then, they have had mixed fortunes and Kearney will be hoping to cement his position with a fruitful run in the finals.
Newcastle Knights - Nathan Brown
Brown took over in 2016, collecting the wooden spoon in his first two seasons. He would later blame the mess the Knights were in on Wayne Bennett, who was at the club from 2012 to 2014. In the final year of his contract, and following an extensive recruitment drive, the Knights started the year in promising fashion before an injury to new halfback Mitchell Pearce saw the wheels fall off. The Knights have given Brown an indefinite extension, with performance being the deciding factor on how long he stays.
North Queensland Cowboys - Paul Green
Green was another coach associated with a move to replace Bennett at the Broncos, before the Cowboys locked him into a three-year extension in April this year. Green's success at the club was highlighted by a premiership win in 2015 and an unlikely grand final appearance in 2017. With Johnathan Thurston in his final year, the club has endured a terrible season, and are currently in a battle to avoid the wooden spoon.
Parramatta Eels - Brad Arthur
Arthur is another coach who is in serious trouble after a poor season. Ironically, Arthur led the Eels to fourth place on the 2017 premiership ladder and was among the favourites to win coach-of-the-year honours. Then the club signed Jarryd Hayne in the offseason and the team's make-up and attitude seemed to change overnight. Favoured to take home the wooden spoon this year, Arthur's final year at the club has been guaranteed by a club chairman. But that can often spell trouble.
Penrith Panthers - Cameron Ciraldo (interim)
The starting gun for this whole mess was fired at the foot of the mountains, where club boss and apparent megalomaniac Phil Gould decided coach Anthony Griffin had to go. Immediately. Gould blamed Griffin's old-school style and his inability to listen and work with his coaching team. Griffin denied it all and most agreed that he was more likely marched because he wouldn't do things Gould's way. The Panthers immediately became embroiled in a controversial grab for current Wests Tigers coach Ivan Cleary. The Tigers are refusing to release Cleary, who along with the Panthers is denying there has even been an offer. Meanwhile, interim coach Cameron Ciraldo has a massive opportunity to prove that he is the man for the job - at least until Cleary's contract expires in two-years' time.
South Sydney Rabbitohs - Anthony Seibold
Seibold is having an incredible run with the Rabbitohs since taking over from Michael Maguire at the end of the 2017 season. His contract with the club runs until the end of 2019 but there has been talk that he is keen to move back to Brisbane, with the Broncos very interested in employing him. Seibold has denied all the speculation, as he tries to keep the Rabbitohs focussed on making a change at the premiership title.
St George Illawarra Dragons - Paul McGregor
The fans have started sharpening their axes as the Dragons appear to have blown what was another very promising start to a NRL season. McGregor's contract was extended until the end of 2019, but a straight-sets exit from the finals will have fans calling for his head.
Sydney Roosters - Trent Robinson
Robinson is probably the one NRL coach who would feel absolutely comfortable with his current position through this year and beyond. He recently extended his contract by another four years and has the Roosters humming along at the top of the NRL ladder as the finals approach.
Wests Tigers - Ivan Cleary
Cleary joined the Tigers at the beginning of 2017 after one of the most tumultuous periods in club history. He has impressed as the Tigers combine an eclectic mix of players to hover on the fringe of a top-eight finish. Then the rumours started. Cleary wants to coach his son Nathan and going to the Panthers is the most realistic way of achieving that goal. Then the Panthers sacked Griffin and all the pieces appeared to be falling into place. All the pieces except for Cleary having another two years to run on his contract and the Tigers being adamant they would not release him. Cleary and the Panthers have denied everything for now, as any negotiations no doubt will be moved well behind closed doors.
Most notable of the available coaches.
Michael Maguire
A former student under Craig Bellamy, Maguire took Wigan to the title in his first year before returning to coach South Sydney. He then took the Rabbitohs to their drought-breaking premiership in 2014, before "losing the locker room" and his job at the end of the 2017 season. Currently the coach of the New Zealand national team, he has been rumoured to be in line for the Broncos and Sea Eagles jobs.
Neil Henry
Henry had coaching stints at the Raiders and Cowboys before taking on the struggling Titans. Regarded as one of the game's premier tacticians, he was a victim of the Titans' Hayne Plane crash and was shown the door in August of 2017.
Geoff Toovey
Toovey was coaching the Sea Eagles with some success until he was replaced by Barrett at the end of the 2015 season. He has been linked to a return to the Sea Eagles, a move which would be popular with most fans.
Des Hasler
Hasler had a lot of success at the Sea Eagles and Bulldogs before leaving both clubs in tatters. His method was to assemble the best team he could under the salary cap, by promising players the world through back-ended contracts. It was a short-sighted way of achieving fast-tracked success. Hasler unsuccessfully applied for the vacant New Zealand national job, where he would have been expected to assemble the best Kiwi talent, with no concerns for a salary cap. It is hard to imagine another club taking him on, unless it was under the strictest of recruitment controls.
John Cartwright
Currently the assistant coach at Manly after an ill-fated stint as head coach for the Titans between 2007 and 2014. Cartwright has been mentioned for the Panthers job, a club where he was well-respected as a player.
Todd Payten
A former Wests Tigers assistant who is now working for the Cowboys, Payten has been pushing for a head coaching role for some time now. There were rumours circulating that he was part of the internal problems which saw Michael Potter and Jason Taylor sacked by the Tigers. Untried as a head coach, it would be a risk for a club to take him on.